Method and apparatus for managing scells during a conditional pcell handover in a wireless communication system

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for managing SCells during a conditional PCell handover in a wireless communication system is provided. A wireless device receives, from the source PCell, a handover command including a PCell condition for a target PCell. The handover command includes at least one of Secondary Cell (SCell) conditions for target SCells. A wireless device evaluates the SCell conditions for the target SCells upon determining that the PCell condition for the target PCell is met. A wireless device transmits, to the target PCell, a handover complete message including result of the evaluation of the SCell conditions for the target SCells.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for managingSCells during a conditional PCell handover in a wireless communicationsystem.

RELATED ART

3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) long-term evolution (LTE) is atechnology for enabling high-speed packet communications. Many schemeshave been proposed for the LTE objective including those that aim toreduce user and provider costs, improve service quality, and expand andimprove coverage and system capacity. The 3GPP LTE requires reduced costper bit, increased service availability, flexible use of a frequencyband, a simple structure, an open interface, and adequate powerconsumption of a terminal as an upper-level requirement.

Work has started in international telecommunication union (ITU) and 3GPPto develop requirements and specifications for new radio (NR) systems.3GPP has to identify and develop the technology components needed forsuccessfully standardizing the new RAT timely satisfying both the urgentmarket needs, and the more long-term requirements set forth by the ITUradio communication sector (ITU-R) international mobiletelecommunications (IMT)-2020 process. Further, the NR should be able touse any spectrum band ranging at least up to 100 GHz that may be madeavailable for wireless communications even in a more distant future.

The NR targets a single technical framework addressing all usagescenarios, requirements and deployment scenarios including enhancedmobile broadband (eMBB), massive machine-type-communications (mMTC),ultra-reliable and low latency communications (URLLC), etc. The NR shallbe inherently forward compatible.

In 5th generation (5G) communication system, it is being discussed tointroduce conditional mobility. One example of conditional mobility isconditional handover (CHO). The conditional handover is essentially anetwork-configured but user equipment (UE)-controlled downlink mobilitymechanism with a potential to reduce the interruption time and handoverfailure/radio link failure. The conditional handover improves thehandover robustness significantly.

SUMMARY

In a normal handover, a wireless device may perform a handover from asource base station (BS) to a target BS. The source BS may provide, tothe target BS, measurement results of the best cell for each frequency,so that the target BS could setup carrier aggregation (CA) and/or dualconnectivity (DC) immediately.

For example, the wireless device may receive, from the source BS,handover (HO) command including a SCell configuration for CA and/or DCin response to the measurement results. Then, the wireless device couldperform the handover to the target BS, and establish the CA and/or theDC immediately based on the SCell configuration.

However, in a conditional handover, a wireless device may execute thehandover from the source BS to the target BS when a condition for theconditional handover is met. In other words, the wireless device may notexecute the handover, when the wireless device receives the conditionalhandover (CHO) command

Thus, though the source BS provides the measurement results to target BSand the wireless device receives the CHO command including the SCellconfiguration for a CA and/or a DC from the target BS, the SCellconfiguration could be outdated when the wireless device actuallyexecutes the handover.

Otherwise, the target BS could configure the CA and/or the DC only afterreceiving the measurement results from the wireless device directly. Forexample, the target BS may transmit, to the wireless device the SCellconfiguration for a CA and/or a DC based on the up-to-date measurementresults. In this case, the secondary cell (SCell) addition for the CAand/or the DC could be significantly delayed.

Therefore, studies for managing SCells during a conditional PCellhandover in a wireless communication system are required.

In an aspect, a method performed by a wireless device in a wirelesscommunication system is provided. The method includes evaluatingSecondary Cell (SCell) conditions for target SCells upon determiningthat a Primary Cell (PCell) condition for a target PCell is met. Themethod further includes transmitting, to the target PCell, a handovercomplete message including result of the evaluation of the SCellconditions for the target SCells.

In another aspect, an apparatus for implementing the above method isprovided.

The present disclosure can have various advantageous effects.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a wirelessdevice could manage SCell configuration in a conditional handoverprocedure, efficiently.

For example, a wireless device may report, to the target BS, validSCells for CA and/or DC operation.

For example, CA and/or DC operation could be started with reportedSCells as soon as the target BS receives the handover complete message.

For example, a wireless device may use the SCell configuration includedin a conditional handover command, when a condition for the conditionalhandover is met.

For example, a wireless device may start to establish a SCell additionfor CA and/or DC without receiving additional SCell configurations.

Advantageous effects which can be obtained through specific embodimentsof the present disclosure are not limited to the advantageous effectslisted above. For example, there may be a variety of technical effectsthat a person having ordinary skill in the related art can understandand/or derive from the present disclosure. Accordingly, the specificeffects of the present disclosure are not limited to those explicitlydescribed herein, but may include various effects that may be understoodor derived from the technical features of the present disclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an example of a communication system to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 2 shows an example of wireless devices to which implementations ofthe present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a wireless device to which implementations ofthe present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 4 shows another example of wireless devices to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 5 shows an example of UE to which implementations of the presentdisclosure is applied.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show an example of protocol stacks in a 3GPP basedwireless communication system to which implementations of the presentdisclosure is applied.

FIG. 8 shows a frame structure in a 3GPP based wireless communicationsystem to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 9 shows a data flow example in the 3GPP NR system to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

FIG. 10 shows an example of overall procedure for condition basedautonomous handover procedure to which implementations of the presentdisclosure is applied.

FIG. 11 shows an example of a scenario for managing the CA and/or DCconfiguration in a normal handover procedure to explain some embodimentsof the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 shows an example of a scenario for managing the CA and/or DCconfiguration in a conditional handover procedure to explain someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 shows an example of a scenario for managing the CA and/or DCconfiguration after a conditional handover procedure to explain someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 14 shows an example of a method for managing SCells during aconditional PCell handover in a wireless communication system, accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 shows an example of a method for managing SCells during aconditional PCell handover in a wireless communication system, accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 shows an example of a method for managing SCells during aconditional PCell handover in a wireless communication system, accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 17 shows an example of a method for managing SCells during aconditional PCell handover in a wireless communication system, accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure.

DESCRIPTION

The following techniques, apparatuses, and systems may be applied to avariety of wireless multiple access systems. Examples of the multipleaccess systems include a code division multiple access (CDMA) system, afrequency division multiple access (FDMA) system, a time divisionmultiple access (TDMA) system, an orthogonal frequency division multipleaccess (OFDMA) system, a single carrier frequency division multipleaccess (SC-FDMA) system, and a multicarrier frequency division multipleaccess (MC-FDMA) system. CDMA may be embodied through radio technologysuch as universal terrestrial radio access (UTRA) or CDMA2000. TDMA maybe embodied through radio technology such as global system for mobilecommunications (GSM), general packet radio service (GPRS), or enhanceddata rates for GSM evolution (EDGE). 01-DMA may be embodied throughradio technology such as institute of electrical and electronicsengineers (IEEE) 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, orevolved UTRA (E-UTRA). UTRA is a part of a universal mobiletelecommunications system (UMTS). 3rd generation partnership project(3GPP) long term evolution (LTE) is a part of evolved UMTS (E-UMTS)using E-UTRA. 3GPP LTE employs 01-DMA in DL and SC-FDMA in UL.LTE-advanced (LTE-A) is an evolved version of 3GPP LTE.

For convenience of description, implementations of the presentdisclosure are mainly described in regards to a 3GPP based wirelesscommunication system. However, the technical features of the presentdisclosure are not limited thereto. For example, although the followingdetailed description is given based on a mobile communication systemcorresponding to a 3GPP based wireless communication system, aspects ofthe present disclosure that are not limited to 3GPP based wirelesscommunication system are applicable to other mobile communicationsystems.

For terms and technologies which are not specifically described amongthe terms of and technologies employed in the present disclosure, thewireless communication standard documents published before the presentdisclosure may be referenced.

In the present disclosure, “A or B” may mean “only A”, “only B”, or“both A and B”. In other words, “A or B” in the present disclosure maybe interpreted as “A and/or B”. For example, “A, B or C” in the presentdisclosure may mean “only A”, “only B”, “only C”, or “any combination ofA, B and C”.

In the present disclosure, slash (/) or comma (,) may mean “and/or”. Forexample, “A/B” may mean “A and/or B”. Accordingly, “A/B” may mean “onlyA”, “only B”, or “both A and B”. For example, “A, B, C” may mean “A, Bor C”.

In the present disclosure, “at least one of A and B” may mean “only A”,“only B” or “both A and B”. In addition, the expression “at least one ofA or B” or “at least one of A and/or B” in the present disclosure may beinterpreted as same as “at least one of A and B”.

In addition, in the present disclosure, “at least one of A, B and C” maymean “only A”, “only B”, “only C”, or “any combination of A, B and C”.In addition, “at least one of A, B or C” or “at least one of A, B and/orC” may mean “at least one of A, B and C”.

Also, parentheses used in the present disclosure may mean “for example”.In detail, when it is shown as “control information (PDCCH)”, “PDCCH”may be proposed as an example of “control information”. In other words,“control information” in the present disclosure is not limited to“PDCCH”, and “PDDCH” may be proposed as an example of “controlinformation”. In addition, even when shown as “control information(i.e., PDCCH)”, “PDCCH” may be proposed as an example of “controlinformation”.

Technical features that are separately described in one drawing in thepresent disclosure may be implemented separately or simultaneously.

Although not limited thereto, various descriptions, functions,procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts of thepresent disclosure disclosed herein can be applied to various fieldsrequiring wireless communication and/or connection (e.g., 5G) betweendevices.

Hereinafter, the present disclosure will be described in more detailwith reference to drawings. The same reference numerals in the followingdrawings and/or descriptions may refer to the same and/or correspondinghardware blocks, software blocks, and/or functional blocks unlessotherwise indicated.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a communication system to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

The 5G usage scenarios shown in FIG. 1 are only exemplary, and thetechnical features of the present disclosure can be applied to other 5Gusage scenarios which are not shown in FIG. 1.

Three main requirement categories for 5G include (1) a category ofenhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), (2) a category of massive machine typecommunication (mMTC), and (3) a category of ultra-reliable and lowlatency communications (URLLC).

Partial use cases may require a plurality of categories for optimizationand other use cases may focus only upon one key performance indicator(KPI). 5G supports such various use cases using a flexible and reliablemethod.

eMBB far surpasses basic mobile Internet access and covers abundantbidirectional work and media and entertainment applications in cloud andaugmented reality. Data is one of 5G core motive forces and, in a 5Gera, a dedicated voice service may not be provided for the first time.In 5G, it is expected that voice will be simply processed as anapplication program using data connection provided by a communicationsystem. Main causes for increased traffic volume are due to an increasein the size of content and an increase in the number of applicationsrequiring high data transmission rate. A streaming service (of audio andvideo), conversational video, and mobile Internet access will be morewidely used as more devices are connected to the Internet. These manyapplication programs require connectivity of an always turned-on statein order to push real-time information and alarm for users. Cloudstorage and applications are rapidly increasing in a mobilecommunication platform and may be applied to both work andentertainment. The cloud storage is a special use case which acceleratesgrowth of uplink data transmission rate. 5G is also used for remote workof cloud. When a tactile interface is used, 5G demands much lowerend-to-end latency to maintain user good experience. Entertainment, forexample, cloud gaming and video streaming, is another core element whichincreases demand for mobile broadband capability. Entertainment isessential for a smartphone and a tablet in any place including highmobility environments such as a train, a vehicle, and an airplane. Otheruse cases are augmented reality for entertainment and informationsearch. In this case, the augmented reality requires very low latencyand instantaneous data volume.

In addition, one of the most expected 5G use cases relates a functioncapable of smoothly connecting embedded sensors in all fields, i.e.,mMTC. It is expected that the number of potential Internet-of-things(IoT) devices will reach 204 hundred million up to the year of 2020. Anindustrial IoT is one of categories of performing a main role enabling asmart city, asset tracking, smart utility, agriculture, and securityinfrastructure through 5G.

URLLC includes a new service that will change industry through remotecontrol of main infrastructure and an ultra-reliable/availablelow-latency link such as a self-driving vehicle. A level of reliabilityand latency is essential to control a smart grid, automatize industry,achieve robotics, and control and adjust a drone.

SG is a means of providing streaming evaluated as a few hundred megabitsper second to gigabits per second and may complement fiber-to-the-home(FTTH) and cable-based broadband (or DOCSIS). Such fast speed is neededto deliver TV in resolution of 4 K or more (6 K, 8K, and more), as wellas virtual reality and augmented reality. Virtual reality (VR) andaugmented reality (AR) applications include almost immersive sportsgames. A specific application program may require a special networkconfiguration. For example, for VR games, gaming companies need toincorporate a core server into an edge network server of a networkoperator in order to minimize latency.

Automotive is expected to be a new important motivated force in 5Gtogether with many use cases for mobile communication for vehicles. Forexample, entertainment for passengers requires high simultaneouscapacity and mobile broadband with high mobility. This is because futureusers continue to expect connection of high quality regardless of theirlocations and speeds. Another use case of an automotive field is an ARdashboard. The AR dashboard causes a driver to identify an object in thedark in addition to an object seen from a front window and displays adistance from the object and a movement of the object by overlappinginformation talking to the driver. In the future, a wireless moduleenables communication between vehicles, information exchange between avehicle and supporting infrastructure, and information exchange betweena vehicle and other connected devices (e.g., devices accompanied by apedestrian). A safety system guides alternative courses of a behavior sothat a driver may drive more safely drive, thereby lowering the dangerof an accident. The next stage will be a remotely controlled orself-driven vehicle. This requires very high reliability and very fastcommunication between different self-driven vehicles and between avehicle and infrastructure. In the future, a self-driven vehicle willperform all driving activities and a driver will focus only uponabnormal traffic that the vehicle cannot identify. Technicalrequirements of a self-driven vehicle demand ultra-low latency andultra-high reliability so that traffic safety is increased to a levelthat cannot be achieved by human being.

A smart city and a smart home/building mentioned as a smart society willbe embedded in a high-density wireless sensor network. A distributednetwork of an intelligent sensor will identify conditions for costs andenergy-efficient maintenance of a city or a home. Similar configurationsmay be performed for respective households. All of temperature sensors,window and heating controllers, burglar alarms, and home appliances arewirelessly connected. Many of these sensors are typically low in datatransmission rate, power, and cost. However, real-time HD video may bedemanded by a specific type of device to perform monitoring.

Consumption and distribution of energy including heat or gas isdistributed at a higher level so that automated control of thedistribution sensor network is demanded. The smart grid collectsinformation and connects the sensors to each other using digitalinformation and communication technology so as to act according to thecollected information. Since this information may include behaviors of asupply company and a consumer, the smart grid may improve distributionof fuels such as electricity by a method having efficiency, reliability,economic feasibility, production sustainability, and automation. Thesmart grid may also be regarded as another sensor network having lowlatency.

Mission critical application (e.g., e-health) is one of 5G usescenarios. A health part contains many application programs capable ofenjoying benefit of mobile communication. A communication system maysupport remote treatment that provides clinical treatment in a farawayplace. Remote treatment may aid in reducing a barrier against distanceand improve access to medical services that cannot be continuouslyavailable in a faraway rural area. Remote treatment is also used toperform important treatment and save lives in an emergency situation.The wireless sensor network based on mobile communication may provideremote monitoring and sensors for parameters such as heart rate andblood pressure.

Wireless and mobile communication gradually becomes important in thefield of an industrial application. Wiring is high in installation andmaintenance cost. Therefore, a possibility of replacing a cable withreconstructible wireless links is an attractive opportunity in manyindustrial fields. However, in order to achieve this replacement, it isnecessary for wireless connection to be established with latency,reliability, and capacity similar to those of the cable and managementof wireless connection needs to be simplified. Low latency and a verylow error probability are new requirements when connection to 5G isneeded.

Logistics and freight tracking are important use cases for mobilecommunication that enables inventory and package tracking anywhere usinga location-based information system. The use cases of logistics andfreight typically demand low data rate but require location informationwith a wide range and reliability.

Referring to FIG. 1, the communication system 1 includes wirelessdevices 100 a to 100 f, base stations (BSs) 200, and a network 300.Although FIG. 1 illustrates a 5G network as an example of the network ofthe communication system 1, the implementations of the presentdisclosure are not limited to the 5G system, and can be applied to thefuture communication system beyond the 5G system.

The BSs 200 and the network 300 may be implemented as wireless devicesand a specific wireless device may operate as a BS/network node withrespect to other wireless devices.

The wireless devices 100 a to 100 f represent devices performingcommunication using radio access technology (RAT) (e.g., 5G new RAT(NR)) or LTE) and may be referred to as communication/radio/5G devices.The wireless devices 100 a to 100 f may include, without being limitedto, a robot 100 a, vehicles 100 b-1 and 100 b-2, an extended reality(XR) device 100 c, a hand-held device 100 d, a home appliance 100 e, anIoT device 100 f, and an artificial intelligence (AI) device/server 400.For example, the vehicles may include a vehicle having a wirelesscommunication function, an autonomous driving vehicle, and a vehiclecapable of performing communication between vehicles. The vehicles mayinclude an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) (e.g., a drone). The XR devicemay include an AR/VR/Mixed Reality (MR) device and may be implemented inthe form of a head-mounted device (HMD), a head-up display (HUD) mountedin a vehicle, a television, a smartphone, a computer, a wearable device,a home appliance device, a digital signage, a vehicle, a robot, etc. Thehand-held device may include a smartphone, a smartpad, a wearable device(e.g., a smartwatch or a smartglasses), and a computer (e.g., anotebook). The home appliance may include a TV, a refrigerator, and awashing machine. The IoT device may include a sensor and a smartmeter.

In the present disclosure, the wireless devices 100 a to 100 f may becalled user equipments (UEs). A UE may include, for example, a cellularphone, a smartphone, a laptop computer, a digital broadcast terminal, apersonal digital assistant (PDA), a portable multimedia player (PMP), anavigation system, a slate personal computer (PC), a tablet PC, anultrabook, a vehicle, a vehicle having an autonomous traveling function,a connected car, an UAV, an AI module, a robot, an AR device, a VRdevice, an MR device, a hologram device, a public safety device, an MTCdevice, an IoT device, a medical device, a FinTech device (or afinancial device), a security device, a weather/environment device, adevice related to a 5G service, or a device related to a fourthindustrial revolution field.

The UAV may be, for example, an aircraft aviated by a wireless controlsignal without a human being onboard.

The VR device may include, for example, a device for implementing anobject or a background of the virtual world. The AR device may include,for example, a device implemented by connecting an object or abackground of the virtual world to an object or a background of the realworld. The MR device may include, for example, a device implemented bymerging an object or a background of the virtual world into an object ora background of the real world. The hologram device may include, forexample, a device for implementing a stereoscopic image of 360 degreesby recording and reproducing stereoscopic information, using aninterference phenomenon of light generated when two laser lights calledholography meet.

The public safety device may include, for example, an image relay deviceor an image device that is wearable on the body of a user.

The MTC device and the IoT device may be, for example, devices that donot require direct human intervention or manipulation. For example, theMTC device and the IoT device may include smartmeters, vending machines,thermometers, smartbulbs, door locks, or various sensors.

The medical device may be, for example, a device used for the purpose ofdiagnosing, treating, relieving, curing, or preventing disease. Forexample, the medical device may be a device used for the purpose ofdiagnosing, treating, relieving, or correcting injury or impairment. Forexample, the medical device may be a device used for the purpose ofinspecting, replacing, or modifying a structure or a function. Forexample, the medical device may be a device used for the purpose ofadjusting pregnancy. For example, the medical device may include adevice for treatment, a device for operation, a device for (in vitro)diagnosis, a hearing aid, or a device for procedure.

The security device may be, for example, a device installed to prevent adanger that may arise and to maintain safety. For example, the securitydevice may be a camera, a closed-circuit TV (CCTV), a recorder, or ablack box.

The FinTech device may be, for example, a device capable of providing afinancial service such as mobile payment. For example, the FinTechdevice may include a payment device or a point of sales (POS) system.

The weather/environment device may include, for example, a device formonitoring or predicting a weather/environment.

The wireless devices 100 a to 100 f may be connected to the network 300via the BSs 200. An AI technology may be applied to the wireless devices100 a to 100 f and the wireless devices 100 a to 100 f may be connectedto the AI server 400 via the network 300. The network 300 may beconfigured using a 3G network, a 4G (e.g., LTE) network, a 5G (e.g., NR)network, and a beyond-5G network. Although the wireless devices 100 a to100 f may communicate with each other through the BSs 200/network 300,the wireless devices 100 a to 100 f may perform direct communication(e.g., sidelink communication) with each other without passing throughthe BSs 200/network 300. For example, the vehicles 100 b-1 and 100 b-2may perform direct communication (e.g., vehicle-to-vehicle(V2V)/vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication). The IoT device (e.g.,a sensor) may perform direct communication with other IoT devices (e.g.,sensors) or other wireless devices 100 a to 100 f.

Wireless communication/connections 150 a, 150 b and 150 c may beestablished between the wireless devices 100 a to 100 f and/or betweenwireless device 100 a to 100 f and BS 200 and/or between BSs 200.Herein, the wireless communication/connections may be establishedthrough various RATs (e.g., 5G NR) such as uplink/downlink communication150 a, sidelink communication (or device-to-device (D2D) communication)150 b, inter-base station communication 150 c (e.g., relay, integratedaccess and backhaul (IAB)), etc. The wireless devices 100 a to 100 f andthe BSs 200/the wireless devices 100 a to 100 f may transmit/receiveradio signals to/from each other through the wirelesscommunication/connections 150 a, 150 b and 150 c. For example, thewireless communication/connections 150 a, 150 b and 150 c maytransmit/receive signals through various physical channels. To this end,at least a part of various configuration information configuringprocesses, various signal processing processes (e.g., channelencoding/decoding, modulation/demodulation, and resourcemapping/de-mapping), and resource allocating processes, fortransmitting/receiving radio signals, may be performed based on thevarious proposals of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows an example of wireless devices to which implementations ofthe present disclosure is applied.

Referring to FIG. 2, a first wireless device 100 and a second wirelessdevice 200 may transmit/receive radio signals to/from an external devicethrough a variety of RATs (e.g., LTE and NR). In FIG. 2, {the firstwireless device 100 and the second wireless device 200} may correspondto at least one of {the wireless device 100 a to 100 f and the BS 200},{the wireless device 100 a to 100 f and the wireless device 100 a to 100f} and/or {the BS 200 and the BS 200} of FIG. 1.

The first wireless device 100 may include one or more processors 102 andone or more memories 104 and additionally further include one or moretransceivers 106 and/or one or more antennas 108. The processor(s) 102may control the memory(s) 104 and/or the transceiver(s) 106 and may beconfigured to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures,suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts described in thepresent disclosure. For example, the processor(s) 102 may processinformation within the memory(s) 104 to generate firstinformation/signals and then transmit radio signals including the firstinformation/signals through the transceiver(s) 106. The processor(s) 102may receive radio signals including second information/signals throughthe transceiver(s) 106 and then store information obtained by processingthe second information/signals in the memory(s) 104. The memory(s) 104may be connected to the processor(s) 102 and may store a variety ofinformation related to operations of the processor(s) 102. For example,the memory(s) 104 may store software code including commands forperforming a part or the entirety of processes controlled by theprocessor(s) 102 or for performing the descriptions, functions,procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts describedin the present disclosure. Herein, the processor(s) 102 and thememory(s) 104 may be a part of a communication modem/circuit/chipdesigned to implement RAT (e.g., LTE or NR). The transceiver(s) 106 maybe connected to the processor(s) 102 and transmit and/or receive radiosignals through one or more antennas 108. Each of the transceiver(s) 106may include a transmitter and/or a receiver. The transceiver(s) 106 maybe interchangeably used with radio frequency (RF) unit(s). In thepresent disclosure, the first wireless device 100 may represent acommunication modem/circuit/chip.

The second wireless device 200 may include one or more processors 202and one or more memories 204 and additionally further include one ormore transceivers 206 and/or one or more antennas 208. The processor(s)202 may control the memory(s) 204 and/or the transceiver(s) 206 and maybe configured to implement the descriptions, functions, procedures,suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts described in thepresent disclosure. For example, the processor(s) 202 may processinformation within the memory(s) 204 to generate thirdinformation/signals and then transmit radio signals including the thirdinformation/signals through the transceiver(s) 206. The processor(s) 202may receive radio signals including fourth information/signals throughthe transceiver(s) 106 and then store information obtained by processingthe fourth information/signals in the memory(s) 204. The memory(s) 204may be connected to the processor(s) 202 and may store a variety ofinformation related to operations of the processor(s) 202. For example,the memory(s) 204 may store software code including commands forperforming a part or the entirety of processes controlled by theprocessor(s) 202 or for performing the descriptions, functions,procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts describedin the present disclosure. Herein, the processor(s) 202 and thememory(s) 204 may be a part of a communication modem/circuit/chipdesigned to implement RAT (e.g., LTE or NR). The transceiver(s) 206 maybe connected to the processor(s) 202 and transmit and/or receive radiosignals through one or more antennas 208. Each of the transceiver(s) 206may include a transmitter and/or a receiver. The transceiver(s) 206 maybe interchangeably used with RF unit(s). In the present disclosure, thesecond wireless device 200 may represent a communicationmodem/circuit/chip.

Hereinafter, hardware elements of the wireless devices 100 and 200 willbe described more specifically. One or more protocol layers may beimplemented by, without being limited to, one or more processors 102 and202. For example, the one or more processors 102 and 202 may implementone or more layers (e.g., functional layers such as physical (PHY)layer, media access control (MAC) layer, radio link control (RLC) layer,packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, radio resource control(RRC) layer, and service data adaptation protocol (SDAP) layer). The oneor more processors 102 and 202 may generate one or more protocol dataunits (PDUs) and/or one or more service data unit (SDUs) according tothe descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/oroperational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. The one ormore processors 102 and 202 may generate messages, control information,data, or information according to the descriptions, functions,procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosedin the present disclosure. The one or more processors 102 and 202 maygenerate signals (e.g., baseband signals) including PDUs, SDUs,messages, control information, data, or information according to thedescriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/oroperational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure and providethe generated signals to the one or more transceivers 106 and 206. Theone or more processors 102 and 202 may receive the signals (e.g.,baseband signals) from the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 andacquire the PDUs, SDUs, messages, control information, data, orinformation according to the descriptions, functions, procedures,suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in thepresent disclosure.

The one or more processors 102 and 202 may be referred to ascontrollers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, or microcomputers. Theone or more processors 102 and 202 may be implemented by hardware,firmware, software, or a combination thereof. As an example, one or moreapplication specific integrated circuits (ASICs), one or more digitalsignal processors (DSPs), one or more digital signal processing devices(DSPDs), one or more programmable logic devices (PLDs), or one or morefield programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) may be included in the one ormore processors 102 and 202. The descriptions, functions, procedures,suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in thepresent disclosure may be implemented using firmware or software and thefirmware or software may be configured to include the modules,procedures, or functions. Firmware or software configured to perform thedescriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/oroperational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure may beincluded in the one or more processors 102 and 202 or stored in the oneor more memories 104 and 204 so as to be driven by the one or moreprocessors 102 and 202. The descriptions, functions, procedures,suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosed in thepresent disclosure may be implemented using firmware or software in theform of code, commands, and/or a set of commands

The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be connected to the one or moreprocessors 102 and 202 and store various types of data, signals,messages, information, programs, code, instructions, and/or commands Theone or more memories 104 and 204 may be configured by read-only memories(ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memories (EPROMs), flash memories, hard drives,registers, cash memories, computer-readable storage media, and/orcombinations thereof. The one or more memories 104 and 204 may belocated at the interior and/or exterior of the one or more processors102 and 202. The one or more memories 104 and 204 may be connected tothe one or more processors 102 and 202 through various technologies suchas wired or wireless connection.

The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may transmit user data, controlinformation, and/or radio signals/channels, mentioned in thedescriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/oroperational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure, to one ormore other devices. The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may receiveuser data, control information, and/or radio signals/channels, mentionedin the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/oroperational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure, from one ormore other devices. For example, the one or more transceivers 106 and206 may be connected to the one or more processors 102 and 202 andtransmit and receive radio signals. For example, the one or moreprocessors 102 and 202 may perform control so that the one or moretransceivers 106 and 206 may transmit user data, control information, orradio signals to one or more other devices. The one or more processors102 and 202 may perform control so that the one or more transceivers 106and 206 may receive user data, control information, or radio signalsfrom one or more other devices.

The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may be connected to the one ormore antennas 108 and 208 and the one or more transceivers 106 and 206may be configured to transmit and receive user data, controlinformation, and/or radio signals/channels, mentioned in thedescriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/oroperational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure, through theone or more antennas 108 and 208. In the present disclosure, the one ormore antennas may be a plurality of physical antennas or a plurality oflogical antennas (e.g., antenna ports).

The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may convert received radiosignals/channels, etc., from RF band signals into baseband signals inorder to process received user data, control information, radiosignals/channels, etc., using the one or more processors 102 and 202.The one or more transceivers 106 and 206 may convert the user data,control information, radio signals/channels, etc., processed using theone or more processors 102 and 202 from the base band signals into theRF band signals. To this end, the one or more transceivers 106 and 206may include (analog) oscillators and/or filters. For example, thetransceivers 106 and 206 can up-convert OFDM baseband signals to acarrier frequency by their (analog) oscillators and/or filters under thecontrol of the processors 102 and 202 and transmit the up-converted OFDMsignals at the carrier frequency. The transceivers 106 and 206 mayreceive OFDM signals at a carrier frequency and down-convert the OFDMsignals into OFDM baseband signals by their (analog) oscillators and/orfilters under the control of the transceivers 102 and 202.

In the implementations of the present disclosure, a UE may operate as atransmitting device in uplink (UL) and as a receiving device in downlink(DL). In the implementations of the present disclosure, a BS may operateas a receiving device in UL and as a transmitting device in DL.Hereinafter, for convenience of description, it is mainly assumed thatthe first wireless device 100 acts as the UE, and the second wirelessdevice 200 acts as the BS. For example, the processor(s) 102 connectedto, mounted on or launched in the first wireless device 100 may beconfigured to perform the UE behavior according to an implementation ofthe present disclosure or control the transceiver(s) 106 to perform theUE behavior according to an implementation of the present disclosure.The processor(s) 202 connected to, mounted on or launched in the secondwireless device 200 may be configured to perform the BS behavioraccording to an implementation of the present disclosure or control thetransceiver(s) 206 to perform the BS behavior according to animplementation of the present disclosure.

In the present disclosure, a BS is also referred to as a node B (NB), aneNode B (eNB), or a gNB.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a wireless device to which implementations ofthe present disclosure is applied.

The wireless device may be implemented in various forms according to ause-case/service (refer to FIG. 1).

Referring to FIG. 3, wireless devices 100 and 200 may correspond to thewireless devices 100 and 200 of FIG. 2 and may be configured by variouselements, components, units/portions, and/or modules. For example, eachof the wireless devices 100 and 200 may include a communication unit110, a control unit 120, a memory unit 130, and additional components140. The communication unit 110 may include a communication circuit 112and transceiver(s) 114. For example, the communication circuit 112 mayinclude the one or more processors 102 and 202 of FIG. 2 and/or the oneor more memories 104 and 204 of FIG. 2. For example, the transceiver(s)114 may include the one or more transceivers 106 and 206 of FIG. 2and/or the one or more antennas 108 and 208 of FIG. 2. The control unit120 is electrically connected to the communication unit 110, the memory130, and the additional components 140 and controls overall operation ofeach of the wireless devices 100 and 200. For example, the control unit120 may control an electric/mechanical operation of each of the wirelessdevices 100 and 200 based on programs/code/commands/information storedin the memory unit 130. The control unit 120 may transmit theinformation stored in the memory unit 130 to the exterior (e.g., othercommunication devices) via the communication unit 110 through awireless/wired interface or store, in the memory unit 130, informationreceived through the wireless/wired interface from the exterior (e.g.,other communication devices) via the communication unit 110.

The additional components 140 may be variously configured according totypes of the wireless devices 100 and 200. For example, the additionalcomponents 140 may include at least one of a power unit/battery,input/output (I/O) unit (e.g., audio I/O port, video I/O port), adriving unit, and a computing unit. The wireless devices 100 and 200 maybe implemented in the form of, without being limited to, the robot (100a of FIG. 1), the vehicles (100 b-1 and 100 b-2 of FIG. 1), the XRdevice (100 c of FIG. 1), the hand-held device (100 d of FIG. 1), thehome appliance (100 e of FIG. 1), the IoT device (100 f of FIG. 1), adigital broadcast terminal, a hologram device, a public safety device,an MTC device, a medicine device, a FinTech device (or a financedevice), a security device, a climate/environment device, the AIserver/device (400 of FIG. 1), the BSs (200 of FIG. 1), a network node,etc. The wireless devices 100 and 200 may be used in a mobile or fixedplace according to a use-example/service.

In FIG. 3, the entirety of the various elements, components,units/portions, and/or modules in the wireless devices 100 and 200 maybe connected to each other through a wired interface or at least a partthereof may be wirelessly connected through the communication unit 110.For example, in each of the wireless devices 100 and 200, the controlunit 120 and the communication unit 110 may be connected by wire and thecontrol unit 120 and first units (e.g., 130 and 140) may be wirelesslyconnected through the communication unit 110. Each element, component,unit/portion, and/or module within the wireless devices 100 and 200 mayfurther include one or more elements. For example, the control unit 120may be configured by a set of one or more processors. As an example, thecontrol unit 120 may be configured by a set of a communication controlprocessor, an application processor (AP), an electronic control unit(ECU), a graphical processing unit, and a memory control processor. Asanother example, the memory 130 may be configured by a RAM, a DRAM, aROM, a flash memory, a volatile memory, a non-volatile memory, and/or acombination thereof.

FIG. 4 shows another example of wireless devices to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

Referring to FIG. 4, wireless devices 100 and 200 may correspond to thewireless devices 100 and 200 of FIG. 2 and may be configured by variouselements, components, units/portions, and/or modules.

The first wireless device 100 may include at least one transceiver, suchas a transceiver 106, and at least one processing chip, such as aprocessing chip 101. The processing chip 101 may include at least oneprocessor, such a processor 102, and at least one memory, such as amemory 104. The memory 104 may be operably connectable to the processor102. The memory 104 may store various types of information and/orinstructions. The memory 104 may store a software code 105 whichimplements instructions that, when executed by the processor 102,perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methodsand/or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. Forexample, the software code 105 may implement instructions that, whenexecuted by the processor 102, perform the descriptions, functions,procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosedin the present disclosure. For example, the software code 105 maycontrol the processor 102 to perform one or more protocols. For example,the software code 105 may control the processor 102 may perform one ormore layers of the radio interface protocol.

The second wireless device 200 may include at least one transceiver,such as a transceiver 206, and at least one processing chip, such as aprocessing chip 201. The processing chip 201 may include at least oneprocessor, such a processor 202, and at least one memory, such as amemory 204. The memory 204 may be operably connectable to the processor202. The memory 204 may store various types of information and/orinstructions. The memory 204 may store a software code 205 whichimplements instructions that, when executed by the processor 202,perform the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methodsand/or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. Forexample, the software code 205 may implement instructions that, whenexecuted by the processor 202, perform the descriptions, functions,procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosedin the present disclosure. For example, the software code 205 maycontrol the processor 202 to perform one or more protocols. For example,the software code 205 may control the processor 202 may perform one ormore layers of the radio interface protocol.

FIG. 5 shows an example of UE to which implementations of the presentdisclosure is applied.

Referring to FIG. 5, a UE 100 may correspond to the first wirelessdevice 100 of FIG. 2 and/or the first wireless device 100 of FIG. 4.

A UE 100 includes a processor 102, a memory 104, a transceiver 106, oneor more antennas 108, a power management module 110, a battery 1112, adisplay 114, a keypad 116, a subscriber identification module (SIM) card118, a speaker 120, and a microphone 122.

The processor 102 may be configured to implement the descriptions,functions, procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operationalflowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure. The processor 102 may beconfigured to control one or more other components of the UE 100 toimplement the descriptions, functions, procedures, suggestions, methodsand/or operational flowcharts disclosed in the present disclosure.Layers of the radio interface protocol may be implemented in theprocessor 102. The processor 102 may include ASIC, other chipset, logiccircuit and/or data processing device. The processor 102 may be anapplication processor. The processor 102 may include at least one of adigital signal processor (DSP), a central processing unit (CPU), agraphics processing unit (GPU), a modem (modulator and demodulator). Anexample of the processor 102 may be found in SNAPDRAGON™ series ofprocessors made by Qualcomm®, EXYNOS™ series of processors made bySamsung®, A series of processors made by Apple®, HELIO™ series ofprocessors made by MediaTek®, ATOM™ series of processors made by Intel®or a corresponding next generation processor.

The memory 104 is operatively coupled with the processor 102 and storesa variety of information to operate the processor 102. The memory 104may include ROM, RAM, flash memory, memory card, storage medium and/orother storage device. When the embodiments are implemented in software,the techniques described herein can be implemented with modules (e.g.,procedures, functions, etc.) that perform the descriptions, functions,procedures, suggestions, methods and/or operational flowcharts disclosedin the present disclosure. The modules can be stored in the memory 104and executed by the processor 102. The memory 104 can be implementedwithin the processor 102 or external to the processor 102 in which casethose can be communicatively coupled to the processor 102 via variousmeans as is known in the art.

The transceiver 106 is operatively coupled with the processor 102, andtransmits and/or receives a radio signal. The transceiver 106 includes atransmitter and a receiver. The transceiver 106 may include basebandcircuitry to process radio frequency signals. The transceiver 106controls the one or more antennas 108 to transmit and/or receive a radiosignal.

The power management module 110 manages power for the processor 102and/or the transceiver 106. The battery 112 supplies power to the powermanagement module 110.

The display 114 outputs results processed by the processor 102. Thekeypad 116 receives inputs to be used by the processor 102. The keypad16 may be shown on the display 114.

The SIM card 118 is an integrated circuit that is intended to securelystore the international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and itsrelated key, which are used to identify and authenticate subscribers onmobile telephony devices (such as mobile phones and computers). It isalso possible to store contact information on many SIM cards.

The speaker 120 outputs sound-related results processed by the processor102. The microphone 122 receives sound-related inputs to be used by theprocessor 102.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show an example of protocol stacks in a 3GPP basedwireless communication system to which implementations of the presentdisclosure is applied.

In particular, FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a radio interface userplane protocol stack between a UE and a BS and FIG. 7 illustrates anexample of a radio interface control plane protocol stack between a UEand a BS. The control plane refers to a path through which controlmessages used to manage call by a UE and a network are transported. Theuser plane refers to a path through which data generated in anapplication layer, for example, voice data or Internet packet data aretransported. Referring to FIG. 6, the user plane protocol stack may bedivided into Layer 1 (i.e., a PHY layer) and Layer 2. Referring to FIG.7, the control plane protocol stack may be divided into Layer 1 (i.e., aPHY layer), Layer 2, Layer 3 (e.g., an RRC layer), and a non-accessstratum (NAS) layer. Layer 1, Layer 2 and Layer 3 are referred to as anaccess stratum (AS).

In the 3GPP LTE system, the Layer 2 is split into the followingsublayers: MAC, RLC, and PDCP. In the 3GPP NR system, the Layer 2 issplit into the following sublayers: MAC, RLC, PDCP and SDAP. The PHYlayer offers to the MAC sublayer transport channels, the MAC sublayeroffers to the RLC sublayer logical channels, the RLC sublayer offers tothe PDCP sublayer RLC channels, the PDCP sublayer offers to the SDAPsublayer radio bearers. The SDAP sublayer offers to 5G core networkquality of service (QoS) flows.

In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of the MACsublayer include: mapping between logical channels and transportchannels; multiplexing/de-multiplexing of MAC SDUs belonging to one ordifferent logical channels into/from transport blocks (TB) deliveredto/from the physical layer on transport channels; scheduling informationreporting; error correction through hybrid automatic repeat request(HARQ) (one HARQ entity per cell in case of carrier aggregation (CA));priority handling between UEs by means of dynamic scheduling; priorityhandling between logical channels of one UE by means of logical channelprioritization; padding. A single MAC entity may support multiplenumerologies, transmission timings and cells. Mapping restrictions inlogical channel prioritization control which numerology(ies), cell(s),and transmission timing(s) a logical channel can use.

Different kinds of data transfer services are offered by MAC. Toaccommodate different kinds of data transfer services, multiple types oflogical channels are defined, i.e., each supporting transfer of aparticular type of information. Each logical channel type is defined bywhat type of information is transferred. Logical channels are classifiedinto two groups: control channels and traffic channels. Control channelsare used for the transfer of control plane information only, and trafficchannels are used for the transfer of user plane information only.Broadcast control channel (BCCH) is a downlink logical channel forbroadcasting system control information, paging control channel (PCCH)is a downlink logical channel that transfers paging information, systeminformation change notifications and indications of ongoing publicwarning service (PWS) broadcasts, common control channel (CCCH) is alogical channel for transmitting control information between UEs andnetwork and used for UEs having no RRC connection with the network, anddedicated control channel (DCCH) is a point-to-point bi-directionallogical channel that transmits dedicated control information between aUE and the network and used by UEs having an RRC connection. Dedicatedtraffic channel (DTCH) is a point-to-point logical channel, dedicated toone UE, for the transfer of user information. A DTCH can exist in bothuplink and downlink. In downlink, the following connections betweenlogical channels and transport channels exist: BCCH can be mapped tobroadcast channel (BCH); BCCH can be mapped to downlink shared channel(DL-SCH); PCCH can be mapped to paging channel (PCH); CCCH can be mappedto DL-SCH; DCCH can be mapped to DL-SCH; and DTCH can be mapped toDL-SCH. In uplink, the following connections between logical channelsand transport channels exist: CCCH can be mapped to uplink sharedchannel (UL-SCH); DCCH can be mapped to UL-SCH; and DTCH can be mappedto UL-SCH.

The RLC sublayer supports three transmission modes: transparent mode(TM), unacknowledged mode (UM), and acknowledged node (AM). The RLCconfiguration is per logical channel with no dependency on numerologiesand/or transmission durations. In the 3GPP NR system, the main servicesand functions of the RLC sublayer depend on the transmission mode andinclude: transfer of upper layer PDUs; sequence numbering independent ofthe one in PDCP (UM and AM); error correction through ARQ (AM only);segmentation (AM and UM) and re-segmentation (AM only) of RLC SDUs;reassembly of SDU (AM and UM); duplicate detection (AM only); RLC SDUdiscard (AM and UM); RLC re-establishment; protocol error detection (AMonly).

In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of the PDCPsublayer for the user plane include: sequence numbering; headercompression and decompression using robust header compression (ROHC);transfer of user data; reordering and duplicate detection; in-orderdelivery; PDCP PDU routing (in case of split bearers); retransmission ofPDCP SDUs; ciphering, deciphering and integrity protection; PDCP SDUdiscard; PDCP re-establishment and data recovery for RLC AM; PDCP statusreporting for RLC AM; duplication of PDCP PDUs and duplicate discardindication to lower layers. The main services and functions of the PDCPsublayer for the control plane include: sequence numbering; ciphering,deciphering and integrity protection; transfer of control plane data;reordering and duplicate detection; in-order delivery; duplication ofPDCP PDUs and duplicate discard indication to lower layers.

In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of SDAP include:mapping between a QoS flow and a data radio bearer; marking QoS flow ID(QFI) in both DL and UL packets. A single protocol entity of SDAP isconfigured for each individual PDU session.

In the 3GPP NR system, the main services and functions of the RRCsublayer include:

broadcast of system information related to AS and NAS; paging initiatedby 5GC or NG-RAN;

establishment, maintenance and release of an RRC connection between theUE and NG-RAN; security functions including key management;establishment, configuration, maintenance and release of signaling radiobearers (SRBs) and data radio bearers (DRBs); mobility functions(including: handover and context transfer, UE cell selection andreselection and control of cell selection and reselection, inter-RATmobility); QoS management functions; UE measurement reporting andcontrol of the reporting; detection of and recovery from radio linkfailure; NAS message transfer to/from NAS from/to UE.

FIG. 8 shows a frame structure in a 3GPP based wireless communicationsystem to which implementations of the present disclosure is applied.

The frame structure shown in FIG. 8 is purely exemplary and the numberof subframes, the number of slots, and/or the number of symbols in aframe may be variously changed. In the 3GPP based wireless communicationsystem, OFDM numerologies (e.g., subcarrier spacing (SCS), transmissiontime interval (TTI) duration) may be differently configured between aplurality of cells aggregated for one UE. For example, if a UE isconfigured with different SCSs for cells aggregated for the cell, an(absolute time) duration of a time resource (e.g., a subframe, a slot,or a TTI) including the same number of symbols may be different amongthe aggregated cells. Herein, symbols may include OFDM symbols (orCP-OFDM symbols), SC-FDMA symbols (or discrete Fouriertransform-spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols).

Referring to FIG. 8, downlink and uplink transmissions are organizedinto frames. Each frame has T_(f)=10 ms duration. Each frame is dividedinto two half-frames, where each of the half-frames has 5 ms duration.Each half-frame consists of 5 subframes, where the duration T_(sf) persubframe is 1 ms. Each subframe is divided into slots and the number ofslots in a subframe depends on a subcarrier spacing. Each slot includes14 or 12 OFDM symbols based on a cyclic prefix (CP). In a normal CP,each slot includes 14 OFDM symbols and, in an extended CP, each slotincludes 12 OFDM symbols. The numerology is based on exponentiallyscalable subcarrier spacing Δf=2^(u)*15 kHz.

Table 1 shows the number of OFDM symbols per slot N^(slot) _(symb), thenumber of slots per frame N^(frame,u) _(slot), and the number of slotsper subframe N^(subframe,u) _(slot) for the normal CP, according to thesubcarrier spacing Δf=2^(u)*15 kHz.

TABLE 1 u N_(symb) ^(slot) N_(slot) ^(frame, u) N_(slot) ^(subframe, u)0 14  10  1 1 14  20  2 2 14  40  4 3 14  80  8 4 14 160 16

Table 2 shows the number of OFDM symbols per slot N^(slot) _(symb), thenumber of slots per frame N^(frame,u) _(slot), and the number of slotsper subframe N^(subframe,u) _(slot) for the extended CP, according tothe subcarrier spacing Δf=2^(u)*15 kHz.

TABLE 2 u N_(symb) ^(slot) N_(slot) ^(frame, u) N_(slot) ^(subframe, u)2 12 40 4

A slot includes plural symbols (e.g., 14 or 12 symbols) in the timedomain. For each numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing) and carrier, aresource grid of N^(size,u) _(grid,x)*N^(RB) _(sc) subcarriers andN^(subframe,u) _(symb) OFDM symbols is defined, starting at commonresource block (CRB) N^(start,u) _(grid) indicated by higher-layersignaling (e.g., RRC signaling), where N^(size,u) _(grid,x) is thenumber of resource blocks (RBs) in the resource grid and the subscript xis DL for downlink and UL for uplink. N^(RB) _(sc) is the number ofsubcarriers per RB. In the 3GPP based wireless communication system,N^(RB) _(sc) is 12 generally. There is one resource grid for a givenantenna port p, subcarrier spacing configuration u, and transmissiondirection (DL or UL). The carrier bandwidth N^(size,u) _(grid) forsubcarrier spacing configuration u is given by the higher-layerparameter (e.g., RRC parameter). Each element in the resource grid forthe antenna port p and the subcarrier spacing configuration u isreferred to as a resource element (RE) and one complex symbol may bemapped to each RE. Each RE in the resource grid is uniquely identifiedby an index k in the frequency domain and an index 1 representing asymbol location relative to a reference point in the time domain. In the3GPP based wireless communication system, an RB is defined by 12consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. In the 3GPP NR system,RBs are classified into CRBs and physical resource blocks (PRBs). CRBsare numbered from 0 and upwards in the frequency domain for subcarrierspacing configuration u. The center of subcarrier 0 of CRB 0 forsubcarrier spacing configuration u coincides with ‘point A’ which servesas a common reference point for resource block grids. In the 3GPP NRsystem, PRBs are defined within a bandwidth part (BWP) and numbered from0 to N^(size) _(BWP,i)−1, where i is the number of the bandwidth part.The relation between the physical resource block nPRB in the bandwidthpart i and the common resource block n_(CRB) is as follows:n_(PRB)=n_(CRB) _(+M) ^(size) _(BWP,i), where N^(size) _(BWP,i) is thecommon resource block where bandwidth part starts relative to CRB 0. TheBWP includes a plurality of consecutive RBs. A carrier may include amaximum of N (e.g., 5) BWPs. A UE may be configured with one or moreBWPs on a given component carrier. Only one BWP among BWPs configured tothe UE can active at a time. The active BWP defines the UE's operatingbandwidth within the cell's operating bandwidth.

The NR frequency band may be defined as two types of frequency range,i.e., FR1 and FR2. The numerical value of the frequency range may bechanged. For example, the frequency ranges of the two types (FR1 andFR2) may be as shown in Table 3 below. For ease of explanation, in thefrequency ranges used in the NR system, FR1 may mean “sub 6 GHz range”,FR2 may mean “above 6 GHz range,” and may be referred to as millimeterwave (mmW).

TABLE 3 Frequency Range Corresponding Subcarrier designation frequencyrange Spacing FR1  450 MHz-6000 MHz  15, 30, 60 kHz FR2 24250 MHz-52600MHz 60, 120, 240 kHz

As mentioned above, the numerical value of the frequency range of the NRsystem may be changed. For example, FR1 may include a frequency band of410 MHz to 7125 MHz as shown in Table 4 below. That is, FR1 may includea frequency band of 6 GHz (or 5850, 5900, 5925 MHz, etc.) or more. Forexample, a frequency band of 6 GHz (or 5850, 5900, 5925 MHz, etc.) ormore included in FR1 may include an unlicensed band. Unlicensed bandsmay be used for a variety of purposes, for example for communication forvehicles (e.g., autonomous driving).

TABLE 4 Frequency Range Corresponding Subcarrier designation frequencyrange Spacing FR1  410 MHz-7125 MHz  15, 30, 60 kHz FR2 24250 MHz-52600MHz 60, 120, 240 kHz

In the present disclosure, the term “cell” may refer to a geographicarea to which one or more nodes provide a communication system, or referto radio resources. A “cell” as a geographic area may be understood ascoverage within which a node can provide service using a carrier and a“cell” as radio resources (e.g., time-frequency resources) is associatedwith bandwidth which is a frequency range configured by the carrier. The“cell” associated with the radio resources is defined by a combinationof downlink resources and uplink resources, for example, a combinationof a DL component carrier (CC) and a UL CC. The cell may be configuredby downlink resources only, or may be configured by downlink resourcesand uplink resources. Since DL coverage, which is a range within whichthe node is capable of transmitting a valid signal, and UL coverage,which is a range within which the node is capable of receiving the validsignal from the UE, depends upon a carrier carrying the signal, thecoverage of the node may be associated with coverage of the “cell” ofradio resources used by the node. Accordingly, the term “cell” may beused to represent service coverage of the node sometimes, radioresources at other times, or a range that signals using the radioresources can reach with valid strength at other times. In CA, two ormore CCs are aggregated. A UE may simultaneously receive or transmit onone or multiple CCs depending on its capabilities. CA is supported forboth contiguous and non-contiguous CCs. When CA is configured, the UEonly has one RRC connection with the network. At RRC connectionestablishment/re-establishment/handover, one serving cell provides theNAS mobility information, and at RRC connectionre-establishment/handover, one serving cell provides the security input.This cell is referred to as the primary cell (PCell). The PCell is acell, operating on the primary frequency, in which the UE eitherperforms the initial connection establishment procedure or initiates theconnection re-establishment procedure. Depending on UE capabilities,secondary cells (SCells) can be configured to form together with thePCell a set of serving cells. An SCell is a cell providing additionalradio resources on top of special cell (SpCell). The configured set ofserving cells for a UE therefore always consists of one PCell and one ormore SCells. For dual connectivity (DC) operation, the term SpCellrefers to the PCell of the master cell group (MCG) or the primary SCell(PSCell) of the secondary cell group (SCG). An SpCell supports PUCCHtransmission and contention-based random access, and is alwaysactivated. The MCG is a group of serving cells associated with a masternode, comprised of the SpCell (PCell) and optionally one or more SCells.The SCG is the subset of serving cells associated with a secondary node,comprised of the PSCell and zero or more SCells, for a UE configuredwith DC. For a UE in RRC_CONNECTED not configured with CA/DC, there isonly one serving cell comprised of the PCell. For a UE in RRC_CONNECTEDconfigured with CA/DC, the term “serving cells” is used to denote theset of cells comprised of the SpCell(s) and all SCells. In DC, two MACentities are configured in a UE: one for the MCG and one for the SCG.

FIG. 9 shows a data flow example in the 3GPP NR system to whichimplementations of the present disclosure is applied.

Referring to FIG. 9, “RB” denotes a radio bearer, and “H” denotes aheader. Radio bearers are categorized into two groups: DRBs for userplane data and SRBs for control plane data. The MAC PDU istransmitted/received using radio resources through the PHY layer to/froman external device. The MAC PDU arrives to the PHY layer in the form ofa transport block.

In the PHY layer, the uplink transport channels UL-SCH and RACH aremapped to their physical channels PUSCH and PRACH, respectively, and thedownlink transport channels DL-SCH, BCH and PCH are mapped to PDSCH,PBCH and PDSCH, respectively. In the PHY layer, uplink controlinformation (UCI) is mapped to PUCCH, and downlink control information(DCI) is mapped to PDCCH. A MAC PDU related to UL-SCH is transmitted bya UE via a PUSCH based on an UL grant, and a MAC PDU related to DL-SCHis transmitted by a BS via a PDSCH based on a DL assignment.

In order to transmit data unit(s) of the present disclosure on UL-SCH, aUE shall have uplink resources available to the UE. In order to receivedata unit(s) of the present disclosure on DL-SCH, a UE shall havedownlink resources available to the UE. The resource allocation includestime domain resource allocation and frequency domain resourceallocation. In the present disclosure, uplink resource allocation isalso referred to as uplink grant, and downlink resource allocation isalso referred to as downlink assignment. An uplink grant is eitherreceived by the UE dynamically on PDCCH, in a random access response, orconfigured to the UE semi-persistently by RRC. Downlink assignment iseither received by the UE dynamically on the PDCCH, or configured to theUE semi-persistently by RRC signaling from the BS.

In UL, the BS can dynamically allocate resources to UEs via the cellradio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) on PDCCH(s). A UE alwaysmonitors the PDCCH(s) in order to find possible grants for uplinktransmission when its downlink reception is enabled (activity governedby discontinuous reception (DRX) when configured). In addition, withconfigured grants, the BS can allocate uplink resources for the initialHARQ transmissions to UEs. Two types of configured uplink grants aredefined: Type 1 and Type 2. With Type 1, RRC directly provides theconfigured uplink grant (including the periodicity). With Type 2, RRCdefines the periodicity of the configured uplink grant while PDCCHaddressed to configured scheduling RNTI (CS-RNTI) can either signal andactivate the configured uplink grant, or deactivate it. That is, a PDCCHaddressed to CS-RNTI indicates that the uplink grant can be implicitlyreused according to the periodicity defined by RRC, until deactivated.

In DL, the BS can dynamically allocate resources to UEs via the C-RNTIon PDCCH(s). A UE always monitors the PDCCH(s) in order to find possibleassignments when its downlink reception is enabled (activity governed byDRX when configured). In addition, with semi-persistent Scheduling(SPS), the BS can allocate downlink resources for the initial HARQtransmissions to UEs. RRC defines the periodicity of the configureddownlink assignments while PDCCH addressed to CS-RNTI can either signaland activate the configured downlink assignment, or deactivate it. Inother words, a PDCCH addressed to CS-RNTI indicates that the downlinkassignment can be implicitly reused according to the periodicity definedby RRC, until deactivated.

For resource allocation by PDCCH (i.e., resource allocation by DCI),PDCCH can be used to schedule DL transmissions on PDSCH and ULtransmissions on PUSCH, where the DCI on PDCCH includes: downlinkassignments containing at least modulation and coding format (e.g.,modulation and coding scheme (MCS) index IMcs), resource allocation, andhybrid-ARQ information related to DL-SCH; or uplink scheduling grantscontaining at least modulation and coding format, resource allocation,and hybrid-ARQ information related to UL-SCH. The size and usage of theDCI carried by one PDCCH are varied depending on DCI formats. Forexample, in the 3GPP NR system, DCI format 0_0 or DCI format 0_1 is usedfor scheduling of PUSCH in one cell, and DCI format 1_0 or DCI format1_1 is used for scheduling of PDSCH in one cell.

Hereinafter, handover procedure is described. It may be referred to asSection 9.2.3.2 of 3GPP TS 38.300 v15.5.0.

C-Plane handling is described. The intra-NR RAN handover performs thepreparation and execution phase of the handover procedure performedwithout involvement of the 5GC. For example, preparation messages aredirectly exchanged between the gNBs. The release of the resources at thesource gNB during the handover completion phase is triggered by thetarget gNB. The basic handover scenario where neither the AMF nor theUPF changes is as follow.

0. The UE context within the source gNB contains information regardingroaming and access restrictions which were provided either at connectionestablishment or at the last TA update.

1. The source gNB configures the UE measurement procedures and the UEreports according to the measurement configuration.

2. The source gNB decides to handover the UE, based on MeasurementReportand RRM information.

3. The source gNB issues a Handover Request message to the target gNBpassing a transparent RRC container with necessary information toprepare the handover at the target side. The information includes atleast the target cell ID, KgNB*, the C-RNTI of the UE in the source gNB,RRM-configuration including UE inactive time, basic AS-configurationincluding antenna Info and DL Carrier Frequency, the current QoS flow toDRB mapping rules applied to the UE, the SIB1 from source gNB, the UEcapabilities for different RATs, PDU session related information, andcan include the UE reported measurement information includingbeam-related information if available. The PDU session relatedinformation includes the slice information (if supported) and QoS flowlevel QoS profile(s).

After issuing a Handover Request, the source gNB should not reconfigurethe UE, including performing Reflective QoS flow to DRB mapping.

4. Admission Control may be performed by the target gNB. Slice-awareadmission control shall be performed if the slice information is sent tothe target gNB. If the PDU sessions are associated with non-supportedslices the target gNB shall reject such PDU Sessions.

5. The target gNB prepares the handover with L1/L2 and sends theHANDOVER REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE to the source gNB, which includes atransparent container to be sent to the UE as an RRC message to performthe handover.

6. The source gNB triggers the Uu handover by sending anRRCReconfiguration message to the UE, containing the informationrequired to access the target cell: at least the target cell ID, the newC-RNTI, the target gNB security algorithm identifiers for the selectedsecurity algorithms It can also include a set of dedicated RACHresources, the association between RACH resources and SSB(s), theassociation between RACH resources and UE-specific CSI-RSconfiguration(s), common RACH resources, and system information of thetarget cell, etc.

7. The source gNB sends the SN STATUS TRANSFER message to the targetgNB.

8. The UE synchronises to the target cell and completes the RRC handoverprocedure by sending RRCReconfigurationComplete message to target gNB.

9. The target gNB sends a PATH SWITCH REQUEST message to AMF to trigger5GC to switch the DL data path towards the target gNB and to establishan NG-C interface instance towards the target gNB.

10. 5GC switches the DL data path towards the target gNB. The UPF sendsone or more “end marker” packets on the old path to the source gNB perPDU session/tunnel and then can release any U-plane/TNL resourcestowards the source gNB.

11. The AMF confirms the PATH SWITCH REQUEST message with the PATHSWITCH REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE message.

12. Upon reception of the PATH SWITCH REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE message fromthe AMF, the target gNB sends the UE CONTEXT RELEASE to inform thesource gNB about the success of the handover. The source gNB can thenrelease radio and C-plane related resources associated to the UEcontext. Any ongoing data forwarding may continue.

Conditional handover (CHO) has been discussed in LTE and NR to improvehandover robustness. In the CHO procedure, the network can configuremultiple candidate cells with CHO triggering condition to UE via RRCdedicated signalling. UE may perform access to one of the candidatecells which satisfies the CHO triggering condition.

The motivation for the handover procedure based on a configuredcondition is to reduce the time to taken for transmission of measurementreporting and reception of handover command and handover preparation sothat it would be possible to reduce the handover failure caused by notreceiving handover command at a proper time.

FIG. 10 shows an example of overall procedure for condition basedautonomous handover procedure to which implementations of the presentdisclosure is applied.

In step S1000, the source gNB may provide measurement controlinformation to the UE. In step S1010, the UE may transmit measurementsreports based on the measurement control information.

In step S1020, the source gNB may prepare condition based autonomoushandover procedure with candidate cells (e.g., Cell1 and Cell2 in FIG.10). In step S1030, the source gNB provides handover assistanceinformation to the UE.

The UE is provided with handover assistance information which includesset of candidate cells and conditions (e.g., RSRP) for handover. It maybe possible the network prepares the candidate cells and provide thehandover assistance information without the measurement report from theUE if the network is able to know the trajectory or location of the UEbased on, e.g., location reporting. Additionally, the network maydetermine the set of candidate cells based on the received measurementreport.

There may be a concern on signalling overhead due to earlier triggeringthreshold. Measurement reporting may be reduced if an approach similarto blacklisted cells is introduced. In other words, if the UE reports onone cell, the network may prepare the multiple cells which is inproximity of the reported cell and provide the list of cells which areprepared. Then, the UE may not report on the cells even if the conditionfor measurement reporting is triggered.

The handover assistance information may be cell quality based conditionsand the configuration which may be used in a target cell. The handoverassistance information may include configuration for one or morecandidate cells.

In step S1040, if the UE receives the handover assistance information,the UE initiates to evaluate the conditions for the candidate cell listto determine whether to perform handover procedure to one of thecandidate cells.

In step S1050, if the condition is met, the UE performs connecting tothe prepared target cell.

For this procedure, since the source gNB may not know the exact timingof UE detaching from the source gNB, there may be some unnecessarydownlink transmissions from the network to the UE. To address thisissue, the target gNB may indicate to source gNB that the UE hascompleted handover successfully so that the source gNB does not transmitto the UE anymore. In addition, if the source gNB does not receive theresponse for the transmitted data, the source gNB may not transmit thedata in downlink considering the handover situation.

As reserving the resource in one or more candidate cell is burdensome tothe network, it may be possible for the network to manage theconfiguration efficiently. For instance, based on the timer associatedwith validity of the handover assistance information, the network and UEmay discard the configuration associated with the conditional handover.In addition, based on measurement report from the UE, network mayconfigure, modify and/or discard the configuration.

Furthermore, if the UE successfully connects to the target cell, thetarget cell may inform to the source cell to discard the reservedconfiguration of the other candidate cell.

Meanwhile, in a normal handover, a wireless device may perform ahandover from a source base station (BS) to a target BS. The source BSmay provide, to the target BS, measurement results of the best cell foreach frequency, so that the target BS could setup carrier aggregation(CA) and/or dual connectivity (DC) immediately.

For example, the wireless device may receive, from the source BS,handover (HO) command including a SCell configuration for CA and/or DCin response to the measurement results. Then, the wireless device couldperform the handover to the target BS, and establish the CA and/or theDC immediately based on the SCell configuration.

FIG. 11 shows an example of a scenario for managing the CA and/or DCconfiguration in a normal handover procedure to explain some embodimentsof the present disclosure.

In particular, in FIG. 11, a wireless device (for example, a UE) mayperform a handover from a source BS (for example, a source gNB) to atarget BS (for example, a target gNB).

In step 1101, the UE may transmit, to the source gNB, a measurementreport. In step 1102, the source gNB may transmit, to the target gNB, ahandover preparation request including the measurement results.

In step 1103, the target gNB may transmit, the handover responseincluding the CA configuration and/or the DC configuration. For example,the CA configuration and/or the DC configuration may include SCellconfiguration for the CA and/or the DC.

In step 1104, the source gNB may transmit the handover command includingthe CA configuration and/or the DC configuration.

The UE may perform the handover based on the handover command The UE mayalso establish the CA and/or the DC based on the CA configuration and/orthe DC configuration.

In step 1105, the UE may transmit, to the target gNB, handover completemessage.

However, in a conditional handover, a wireless device may not performthe handover upon receiving the handover command

FIG. 12 shows an example of a scenario for managing the CA and/or DCconfiguration in a conditional handover procedure to explain someembodiments of the present disclosure.

In a conditional handover, a wireless device may execute the handoverfrom the source BS to the target BS when a condition for the conditionalhandover is met. In other words, the wireless device may not execute thehandover as soon as receiving the conditional handover (CHO) command

Thus, though the source BS provides the measurement results to target BSand the wireless device receives the CHO command including the SCellconfiguration for a CA and/or a DC from the target BS, the SCellconfiguration could be outdated when the wireless device actuallyexecutes the handover.

Referring to FIG. 12, a wireless device (for example, a UE) may performa conditional handover from a source BS (for example, a source gNB) to atarget BS (for example, a target gNB).

In step 1201, the UE may transmit, to the source gNB, a measurementreport. In step 1202, the source gNB may transmit, to the target gNB, ahandover preparation request including the measurement results.

In step 1203, the target gNB may transmit, the handover responseincluding CA configuration and/or the DC configuration. For example, theCA configuration and/or the DC configuration may include SCellconfiguration for the CA and/or the DC.

In step 1204, the source gNB may transmit the conditional handovercommand including the CA configuration and/or the DC configuration.

For example, the quality of the SCell included in the CA configurationand/or the DC configuration could be nice when the UE receive theconditional handover command However, the UE may not perform theconditional handover immediately based on the conditional handovercommand

The UE may perform the conditional handover when at least one ofconditions for candidate cells is met. Therefore, when the UE performthe conditional handover, quality of the SCell included in the CAconfiguration and/or the DC configuration could be no longer nice. Thatis, the UE does not need to establish the CA and/or the DC with theSCell.

In step 1205, the UE may transmit, to the target gNB, handover completemessage after performing the conditional handover to the target gNB.

Thus, a wireless device could waste resource to receive the CAconfiguration and/or the DC configuration.

FIG. 13 shows an example of a scenario for managing the CA and/or DCconfiguration after a conditional handover procedure to explain someembodiments of the present disclosure.

In this example, the target BS could configure the CA and/or the DC onlyafter receiving the measurement results from the wireless devicedirectly. For example, the target BS may transmit, to the wirelessdevice the SCell configuration for a CA and/or a DC based on theup-to-date measurement results. In this case, the secondary cell (SCell)addition for the CA and/or the DC could be significantly delayed.

Referring to FIG. 13, a wireless device (for example, a UE) may receivethe CA configuration and/or the DC configuration after performing aconditional handover from a source BS (for example, a source gNB) to atarget BS (for example, a target gNB).

In step 1301, the UE may transmit, to the source gNB, a measurementreport. In step 1302, the source gNB may transmit, to the target gNB, ahandover preparation request. In step 1303, the target gNB may transmit,the handover response. For example, the handover response. In step 1304,the source gNB may transmit the conditional handover command

The UE may perform the conditional handover when at least one ofconditions for candidate cells is met. In step 1305, the UE maytransmit, to the target gNB, handover complete message after performingthe conditional handover to the target gNB.

In step 1306, the UE may transmit measurement report to the target gNB.In step 1307, the target gNB may transmit, to the UE, the CAconfiguration and/or the DC configuration. For example, the CAconfiguration and/or the DC configuration may include SCellconfiguration.

As described above, in this example, the secondary cell (SCell) additionfor the CA and/or the DC could be significantly delayed from theconditional handover.

Therefore, studies for managing SCells during a conditional PCellhandover in a wireless communication system are required.

Hereinafter, a method for managing SCells during a conditional PCellhandover in a wireless communication system, according to someembodiments of the present disclosure, will be described with referenceto the following drawings.

The following drawings are created to explain specific embodiments ofthe present disclosure. The names of the specific devices or the namesof the specific signals/messages/fields shown in the drawings areprovided by way of example, and thus the technical features of thepresent disclosure are not limited to the specific names used in thefollowing drawings. Herein, a wireless device may be referred to as auser equipment (UE).

FIG. 14 shows an example of a method for managing SCells during aconditional PCell handover in a wireless communication system, accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure.

In particular, FIG. 14 shows an example of a method for performed by awireless device.

In this example, a wireless device may establish a connection with anetwork. For example, the wireless device may establish a Radio ResourceControl (RRC) connection with a serving cell or a source PCell. Forexample, the wireless device may establish the RRC connection with asource Primary Cell (PCell) and Source Secondary Cells (SCells).

In step 1401, a wireless device may receive, from the source PCell, ahandover command including a PCell condition for a target PCell. Thehandover command may include at least one of Secondary Cell (SCell)conditions for target SCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the handovercommand may further include another PCell condition for another targetPCell. For example, another target PCell may be different from thesource PCell and the target PCell. For example, the handover command mayinclude plurality conditions for multiple PCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the PCellconditions in the handover command may be correspond to at least one ofthe SCell conditions in the handover command

For example, the SCells may include a first SCell related to the targetPCell and a second SCell related to the other target PCell. For example,the wireless device could establish a CA and/or a DC with the firstSCell, when the wireless device handovers to the target PCell.

For example, the wireless device could establish a CA and/or a DC withthe second SCell, when the wireless device handovers to the other targetPCell.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the handovercommand may include SCell configuration for target SCells. In thisexample, the handover command may include the at least one of the SCellconditions for the target SCells and the SCell configuration.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the wirelessdevice may establish connections with source SCells before receiving thehandover command In this case, a wireless device may receive ‘keepingindication’ for at least one of the source SCells. For example, the‘keeping indication’ may indicate at least one of the source SCells.

For example, the ‘keeping indication’ may be included in the handovercommand In other words, the handover command may include the ‘keepingindication’ and the SCell conditions for the source SCells.

In step 1402, a wireless device may evaluate the SCell conditions forthe target SCells upon determining that the PCell condition for thetarget PCell is met.

For example, a wireless device may perform measurement on the targetPCell and the target SCells. For example, the measurement may beperformed periodically. For example, the measurement may be performedwhen at least one of measurement events is occurred.

If the wireless device determines that the PCell condition for thetarget PCell is met, the wireless device may evaluate each of the SCellconditions for the target SCells based on the measurement result.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the wirelessdevice may apply a connection with at least one of the target SCells,based on that the at least one of the target SCells is evaluated to besatisfied the at least one of the SCell conditions for the targetSCells.

In other words, if the wireless device evaluates that the at least oneof the target SCells satisfies the at least one of the SCell conditions,the wireless device may apply the connection with the at least one ofthe target SCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a wirelessdevice may establish a connection with the source SCells beforereceiving the handover command in step 1401.

In this case, the wireless device may keep a connection with at leastone of the source SCells, based on that the at least one of the sourceSCells is evaluated to be satisfied the at least one of the SCellconditions for the source SCells.

In addition, the wireless device may release a connection with at leastone of the source SCells, based on that the at least one of the sourceSCell is evaluated not to be satisfied the at least one of the SCellconditions for the source SCells.

For example, if the wireless device decides that the at least one of thesource SCells satisfies the at least one of the SCell conditions, thewireless device may keep the connection with the at least one of thesource SCells and release the connection with the others of the sourceSCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the handovercommand may include at least one of PCell conditions for multiple targetPCells and at least one of SCell conditions for multiple sets of targetSCells. For example, each of the multiple sets of the target SCells isassociated with each of the multiple target PCells.

In this case, a wireless device may evaluate the at least one of theSCell conditions only for a specific set of the target SCells, upondetermining that the at least one of the PCell conditions for a specificPCell is met. The specific set of the target SCells may be associatedwith the specific target PCell.

For example, the wireless device may not evaluate the at least one ofthe SCell conditions for the other sets of the target SCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the SCellconditions for the SCells could be independent from the PCell conditionsfor the target PCells. For example, the SCells may not be correspondedto at least one of the target PCells.

In step 1403, a wireless device may transmit, to the target PCell, ahandover complete message including result of the evaluation of theSCell conditions for the target SCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a wirelessdevice may decide that at least one of the target SCells satisfies theat least one of the SCell conditions based on the evaluation. In thiscase, the wireless device may transmit, to the target PCell, thehandover complete message including information on at least one of thetarget SCells, based on that the at least one of the target SCells isevaluated to be satisfied the at least one of the SCell conditions. Forexample, the information on the at least one of the target SCells mayinclude the identifier (ID) of the at least one of the target SCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a wirelessdevice may decide that none of the target SCells satisfies the at leastone of the SCell conditions based on the evaluation. In this case, thewireless device may transmit, to the target PCell, the handover completemessage including information informing that none of the target SCellssatisfies the at least one of the SCell conditions.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a wirelessdevice may perform handover to the target PCell based on that the PCellcondition is met. For example the wireless device may transmit, to thetarget PCell, the handover complete message after establishing aconnection with the target PCell.

In this case, the wireless device may establish a connection with atleast one of target SCells which is met the at least one of the SCellconditions. The wireless device may start to establish a CA and/or a DCfor the PCell with the at least one of the target SCells based on thatthe at least one of the target SCells is evaluated to be satisfied theat least one of the SCell conditions.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the targetPCell may start to establish a CA and/or a DC with at least one oftarget SCells upon receiving the handover complete message. For example,the target PCell may establish the CA and/or the DC with the at leastone of the target SCells based on the result of the evaluation of theSCell conditions.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a wirelessdevice may be in communication with at least one of a user equipment, anetwork, or an autonomous vehicle other than the wireless device.

FIG. 15 shows an example of a method for managing SCells during aconditional PCell handover in a wireless communication system, accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure.

In particular, in FIG. 15, a UE may perform a conditional handover froma source gNB to a target gNB.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a UE mayestablish a connection with a network (for example, the source gNB). Forexample, the UE may perform initial access towards a cell in the sourcegNB. The UE and the cell may perform RACH procedure. The UE mayestablish or resume a connection with the source gNB and entersRRC_CONNECTED state. The UE may perform AS security activation uponreceiving Security Mode Command from the source gNB. The UE mayconfigure radio bearers and radio configuration upon receiving RRCreconfiguration. Otherwise, the UE may resume radio bearers and radioconfiguration upon receiving RRC resume.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE mayperform steps 1201 to 1203 before performing step 1501.

Referring to FIG. 15, in step 1501, the UE may receive conditionalhandover (CHO) command from the source PCell. For example, the sourcePCell may be a serving cell. For example, the source PCell may beprovided by the source gNB in FIG. 12.

For example, the CHO command may include at least one PCell condition.The at least one PCell condition may be used for handover condition. Forexample, the UE may determine whether a target cell can be a candidatefor conditional handover based on the at least one PCell condition.

For example, the CHO command may further include at least one SCellcondition. The at least one SCell condition may be used for the CAcondition and/or the DC condition. For example, the UE may determinewhether to add a SCell for the corresponding PCell (a target PCell) inthe CA procedure and/or the DC procedure based on the SCell condition.

In step 1502, UE may check whether the PCell condition is met for acandidate target PCell.

In step 1503, UE may check whether the SCell condition is met for eachof candidate SCells.

For example, when the PCell condition is met for the candidate targetPCell, the UE may check whether the SCell condition is met for each ofcandidate SCells related to the candidate target PCell.

If the SCell condition is met for a candidate SCell, UE may apply thecorresponding SCell configuration for the candidate SCell. The UE mayinform the candidate target PCell of the information, for example,identity of the candidate SCell.

In step 1504, UE may transmit, to the target PCell, a CHO completemessage. For example, the CHO complete message may include informationon the candidate SCell(s), when the candidate SCell(s) satisfies theSCell condition. For example, the CHO complete message may include theidentity of the candidate SCell(s). For example, when the target PCellreceives the CHO complete message, the target PCell may start toestablish a CA and/or a DC with valid SCells based on the information onthe candidate SCell(s).

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, if the SCellcondition is not met for a candidate SCell, the UE may not apply thecorresponding SCell configuration for the candidate SCell. For example,the UE may discard the SCell configuration for the candidate SCell.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the SCellconfiguration may be related to at least one candidate SCell. The SCellconfiguration may include the mapping information between the SCellconfigurations and candidate SCells. For example, candidate SCell(s)could be mapped to the SCell configuration. The SCell configuration canbe included in the conditional handover command in step 1501.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the SCellcondition may be mapped to at least one candidate SCell, and the SCellcondition may not include the mapping information. If the mappinginformation for the SCell condition is not provided, the UE may considerthe SCell condition is applicable to all candidate SCells.

For example, the SCell condition may include that the measurement resultof the (candidate) SCell is higher than a threshold.

Herein, the terminology ‘SCell’ may include Primary SCell. For example,PSCell may be one of the cells belong to secondary cell group (SCG).

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, theconfiguration for candidate PSCell and corresponding PSCell conditionalso could be included in the conditional handover message.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, in step 1504,when the PCell condition is met for the candidate target PCell, the UEmay initiates the transmission of handover complete message to thehandover target cell. For example, the UE may perform conditionalhandover without SCell change. The UE keeps the SCell configured bysource cell even after handover completion while the UE performs thehandover without SCell change.

It is described above that the present disclosure is applied toconditional handover with SCell change. The present disclosure can beapplied to conditional handover without SCell change. The handoverwithout SCell change means that the UE keeps the SCell configured bysource cell even after handover completion.

In this case, the CHO command could include ‘keep SCell’ indicator foreach SCell per candidate target PCell. The SCell indicated by the ‘keepSCell’ indicator may not be changed even after handover is completed. Inother words, the SCell indicated by the ‘keep SCell’ indicator may bekept even after the PCell change

For example, the SCell configuration may not be included in the CHOcommand because the UE already has the configuration for its SCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE maycheck all SCell related to the target PCell. When the PCell condition ismet for the candidate target PCell in step 1502, the UE may checkswhether all of the SCell condition is met for each of SCells related tothe candidate target PCell in step 1503.

For example, if the SCell condition is met for an SCell, UE may keep theSCell, and inform the candidate target PCell of the information. Forexample, the UE may transmit, to the target PCell, a CHO completemessage including identity of the SCell.

In this case, if the SCell condition is not met for an SCell, the UE mayrelease the SCell. Then, the UE may inform the handover target cellwhich SCell is released and/or which SCell is being kept. For example,the UE may transmit, to the target PCell, the CHO complete messageincluding information informing which SCell is released and/or whichSCell is being kept.

FIG. 16 shows an example of a method for managing SCells during aconditional PCell handover in a wireless communication system, accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure.

In particular, in this example, a UE may apply SCell configuration whenat least one of SCell conditions for candidate SCell is met.

In step 1601, UE may receive a CHO (conditional handover) command fromserving cell. The CHO command includes handover conditions (for example,PCell condition) and SCell conditions.

Table 5 and table 6 below show an example of the handover condition.

TABLE 5 PCell condition 1: Cell A becomes better than serving cell SCellcondition 1: Cell C becomes better than threshold 1 SCell condition 2:Cell D and/or E becomes better than threshold 2

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For example, the SCell condition 1 and 2 could be mapped to PCellcondition 1.

TABLE 6 PCell condition 2: Cell B becomes better than serving cell SCellcondition 3: Cell F becomes better than threshold 3 SCell condition 4:Cell G becomes better than threshold 4

For example, the SCell condition 3 and 4 could be mapped to PCellcondition 2. In other words, the cell C (in SCell condition 1) and cellD and E (in SCell condition 2) may be candidate SCells when the UE ishanded over to the cell A (in PCell condition 1).

In addition, the cell F (in SCell condition 3) and cell G (in SCellcondition 4) may be candidate SCells when the UE is handed over to thecell B (in PCell condition 2).

For example, the CHO command may include the SCell configuration for oneor more SCell (for example, cells C, D, E, F, and G).

In step 1602, the UE may check whether the PCell conditions are met. Forexample, the PCell condition 1 may be met. Then, the UE may checkwhether SCell condition is met or not for the SCell condition 1 and 2.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE may notcheck whether SCell condition is met or not for the SCell condition 3and 4, because the SCell condition 3 and 4 are mapped to only PCellcondition 2.

In step 1603, the UE may apply SCell configuration based on that each ofthe SCell conditions is met.

For example, if the SCell condition 2 is met for cell D, the UE mayapply the SCell configuration related to the cell D only. For example,since the SCell condition 1 and the SCell condition 2 for cell E are notmet, the UE may not apply the SCell configuration related to the cell Cand the cell E.

For example, the SCell configuration for cell C, D and E may be includedin the CHO command from the source PCell.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE mayinform the handover target cell (for example, cell A) that the UE hasapplied the SCell configuration for cell D via CHO complete message.

In step 1604, the UE may establish carrier aggregation and/or dualconnectivity the applied SCell configuration. For example, the cell Amay start carrier aggregation or dual connectivity operation using cellD for the UE.

For example, if the UE does not apply the SCell configuration becauseall of the SCell conditions are not met, the UE may not establish CAand/or DC.

FIG. 17 shows an example of a method for managing SCells during aconditional PCell handover in a wireless communication system, accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure.

In particular, in this example, a UE may keep or release connection withSCells based on SCell conditions.

In step 1701, the UE may receive a CHO (conditional handover) commandfrom serving cell. For example, cell C, D, E, F and G may have beenconfigured as SCells for the UE. The CHO command may include handoverconditions (for example, PCell condition) and SCell conditions.

Table 5 and table 6 above show an example of the handover condition. Forexample, the SCell condition 1 and 2 could be mapped to PCell condition1 and the SCell condition 3 and 4 could be mapped to PCell condition 2.

In step 1702, the UE may check whether the PCell conditions are met. Forexample, the PCell condition 1 may be met. Then, the UE may checkwhether SCell condition is met or not for the SCell condition 1 and 2.In this case, the UE may not check whether SCell condition is met or notfor the SCell condition 3 and 4, since the SCell condition 3 and 4 aremapped to only PCell condition 2.

In step 1703, the UE may keep or release the connection with SCellsbased that each of the SCell conditions is met.

For example, the SCell condition 2 may be met for cell D, meanwhile theSCell condition 1 and the SCell condition 2 for cell E may be not met.Then, the UE may keep the cell D only, and releases cell C, E, F and G,because for the cell C and the cell E, the SCell condition is not metand, for the cell F and the cell G, they are not related to the PCellcondition 1.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the UE mayinform the target cell (for example, cell A) that the UE keeps the cellD as an SCell, via CHO complete message. For example, the UE may informthe target cell that the cell C, E, F and G are released via CHOcomplete message.

In step 1704, the UE may establish carrier aggregation and/or dualconnectivity based on the kept SCell configuration. For example, thecell A may start carrier aggregation or dual connectivity operationusing cell D for the UE.

For example, if the UE does not keep the SCell configuration because allof the SCell conditions are not met, the UE may not establish CA and/orDC.

Hereinafter, an apparatus for managing SCells during a conditional PCellhandover in a wireless communication system, according to someembodiments of the present disclosure, will be described. Herein, theapparatus may be a wireless device (100 or 200) in FIGS. 2, 3, and 5.

For example, a wireless device may perform methods described in FIGS. 14to 17. The detailed description overlapping with the above-describedcontents will be simplified or omitted.

Referring to FIG. 5, a wireless device 100 may include a processor 102,a memory 104, and a transceiver 106.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor102 may be configured to be coupled operably with the memory 104 and thetransceiver 106.

The processor 102 may be configured to establish a connection with asource Primary Cell (PCell). The processor 102 may be configured tocontrol the transceiver to receive, from the source PCell, a handovercommand including a PCell condition for a target PCell. The handovercommand may include at least one of Secondary Cell (SCell) conditionsfor target SCells. The processor 102 may be configured to evaluate theSCell conditions for the target SCells upon determining that the PCellcondition for the target PCell is met. The processor 102 may beconfigured to control the transceiver to transmit, to the target PCell,a handover complete message including result of the evaluation of theSCell conditions for the target SCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor102 may be configured to apply a connection with at least one of thetarget SCells, based on that the at least one of the target SCells isevaluated to be satisfied the at least one of the SCell conditions forthe target SCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor102 may be configured to establish a connection with source SCellsbefore receiving the handover command For example, the handover commandmay include at least one of SCell conditions for the source SCells.

For example, the processor 102 may be configured to keep a connectionwith at least one of the source SCells, based on that the at least oneof the source SCells is evaluated to be satisfied the at least one ofthe SCell conditions for the source SCells. For other example, theprocessor 102 may be configured to release a connection with at leastone of the source SCells, based on that the at least one of the sourceSCells is evaluated not to be satisfied the at least one of the SCellconditions for the source SCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the handovercomplete message may include information on at least one of the targetSCells, based on that the at least one of the target SCells is evaluatedto be satisfied the at least one of the SCell conditions for the targetSCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the handovercomplete message may include information informing that none of thetarget SCells satisfies the at least one of the SCell conditions for thetarget SCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the handovercommand may include at least one of PCell conditions for multiple targetPCells and at least one of SCell conditions for multiple sets of targetSCells. Each of the multiple sets of the target SCells is associatedwith each of the multiple target PCells.

In this case, the processor 102 may be configured to evaluate the atleast one of the SCell conditions only for a specific set of the targetSCells, upon determining that the at least one of the PCell conditionsfor a specific PCell is met. The specific set of the target SCells isassociated with the specific target PCell.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processor102 may be configured to perform handover to the target PCell based onthat the PCell condition is met. The processor 102 may be configured toestablish a carrier aggregation and/or a dual connectivity for the PCellwith at least one of the target SCells based on that the at least one ofthe target SCells is evaluated to be satisfied the at least one of theSCell conditions for the target SCells.

Hereinafter, a processor for a wireless device for managing SCellsduring a conditional PCell handover in a wireless communication system,according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, will bedescribed.

The processor may be configured to control the wireless device toestablish a connection with a source Primary Cell (PCell). The processormay be configured to control the wireless device to receive, from thesource PCell, a handover command including a PCell condition for atarget PCell. The handover command may include at least one of SecondaryCell (SCell) conditions for target SCells. The processor may beconfigured to control the wireless device to evaluate the SCellconditions for the target SCells upon determining that the PCellcondition for the target PCell is met. The processor may be configuredto control the wireless device to transmit, to the target PCell, ahandover complete message including result of the evaluation of theSCell conditions for the target SCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processormay be further configured to control the wireless device to apply aconnection with at least one of the target SCells, based on that the atleast one of the target SCells is evaluated to be satisfied the at leastone of the SCell conditions for the target SCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processormay be further configured to control the wireless device to establish aconnection with source SCells before receiving the handover command Forexample, the handover command may include at least one of SCellconditions for the source SCells.

For example, the processor may be configured to control the wirelessdevice to keep a connection with at least one of the source SCells,based on that the at least one of the source SCells is evaluated to besatisfied the at least one of the SCell conditions for the sourceSCells.

For other example, the processor may be configured to control thewireless device to release a connection with at least one of the sourceSCells, based on that the at least one of the source SCells is evaluatednot to be satisfied the at least one of the SCell conditions for thesource SCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the handovercomplete message may include information on at least one of the targetSCells, based on that the at least one of the target SCells is evaluatedto be satisfied the at least one of the SCell conditions for the targetSCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the handovercomplete message may include information informing that none of thetarget SCells satisfies the at least one of the SCell conditions for thetarget SCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the handovercommand may include at least one of PCell conditions for multiple targetPCells and at least one of SCell conditions for multiple sets of targetSCells. Each of the multiple sets of the target SCells is associatedwith each of the multiple target PCells.

In this case, the processor may be configured to control the wirelessdevice to evaluate the at least one of the SCell conditions only for aspecific set of the target SCells, upon determining that the at leastone of the PCell conditions for a specific PCell is met. The specificset of the target SCells is associated with the specific target PCell.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the processormay be configured to control the wireless device to perform handover tothe target PCell based on that the PCell condition is met. The processormay be configured to control the wireless device to establish a carrieraggregation and/or a dual connectivity for the PCell with at least oneof the target SCells based on that the at least one of the target SCellsis evaluated to be satisfied the at least one of the SCell conditionsfor the target SCells.

Hereinafter, a non-transitory computer-readable medium which has storedthereon a plurality of instructions for managing SCells during aconditional PCell handover in a wireless communication system, accordingto some embodiments of the present disclosure, will be described.

According to some embodiment of the present disclosure, the technicalfeatures of the present disclosure could be embodied directly inhardware, in a software executed by a processor, or in a combination ofthe two. For example, a method performed by a wireless device in awireless communication may be implemented in hardware, software,firmware, or any combination thereof. For example, a software may residein RAM memory, flash memory, ROM memory, EPROM memory, EEPROM memory,registers, hard disk, a removable disk, a CD-ROM, or any other storagemedium.

Some example of storage medium is coupled to the processor such that theprocessor can read information from the storage medium. In thealternative, the storage medium may be integral to the processor. Theprocessor and the storage medium may reside in an ASIC. For otherexample, the processor and the storage medium may reside as discretecomponents.

The computer-readable medium may include a tangible and non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium.

For example, non-transitory computer-readable media may include randomaccess memory (RAM) such as synchronous dynamic random access memory(SDRAM), read-only memory (ROM), non-volatile random access memory(NVRAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM),FLASH memory, magnetic or optical data storage media, or any othermedium that can be used to store instructions or data structures.Non-transitory computer-readable media may also include combinations ofthe above.

In addition, the method described herein may be realized at least inpart by a computer-readable communication medium that carries orcommunicates code in the form of instructions or data structures andthat can be accessed, read, and/or executed by a computer.

According to some embodiment of the present disclosure, a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium has stored thereon a plurality of instructions.The stored a plurality of instructions may be executed by a processor ofa wireless device.

The stored a plurality of instructions may cause the wireless device toestablish a connection with a source Primary Cell (PCell). The stored aplurality of instructions may cause the wireless device to receive, fromthe source PCell, a handover command including a PCell condition for atarget PCell. The handover command includes at least one of SecondaryCell (SCell) conditions for target SCells. The stored a plurality ofinstructions may cause the wireless device to evaluate the SCellconditions for the target SCells upon determining that the PCellcondition for the target PCell is met. The stored a plurality ofinstructions may cause the wireless device to transmit, to the targetPCell, a handover complete message including result of the evaluation ofthe SCell conditions for the target SCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the stored aplurality of instructions may cause the wireless device to apply aconnection with at least one of the target SCells, based on that the atleast one of the target SCells is evaluated to be satisfied the at leastone of the SCell conditions for the target SCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the stored aplurality of instructions may cause the wireless device to establish aconnection with source SCells before receiving the handover command Forexample, the handover command may include at least one of SCellconditions for the source SCells.

For example, the stored a plurality of instructions may cause thewireless device to keep a connection with at least one of the sourceSCells, based on that the at least one of the source SCells is evaluatedto be satisfied the at least one of the SCell conditions for the sourceSCells.

For other example, the stored a plurality of instructions may cause thewireless device to release a connection with at least one of the sourceSCells, based on that the at least one of the source SCells is evaluatednot to be satisfied the at least one of the SCell conditions for thesource SCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the handovercomplete message may include information on at least one of the targetSCells, based on that the at least one of the target SCells is evaluatedto be satisfied the at least one of the SCell conditions for the targetSCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the handovercomplete message may include information informing that none of thetarget SCells satisfies the at least one of the SCell conditions for thetarget SCells.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the handovercommand may include at least one of PCell conditions for multiple targetPCells and at least one of SCell conditions for multiple sets of targetSCells. Each of the multiple sets of the target SCells is associatedwith each of the multiple target PCells.

In this case, the stored a plurality of instructions may cause thewireless device to evaluate the at least one of the SCell conditionsonly for a specific set of the target SCells, upon determining that theat least one of the PCell conditions for a specific PCell is met. Thespecific set of the target SCells is associated with the specific targetPCell.According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, thestored a plurality of instructions may cause the wireless device toperform handover to the target PCell based on that the PCell conditionis met. The stored a plurality of instructions may cause the wirelessdevice to establish a carrier aggregation and/or a dual connectivity forthe PCell with at least one of the target SCells based on that the atleast one of the target SCells is evaluated to be satisfied the at leastone of the SCell conditions for the target SCells.

Hereinafter, a method, performed by a target base station (BS), formanaging SCells during a conditional PCell handover in a wirelesscommunication system, according to some embodiments of the presentdisclosure, will be described.

A target BS may receive, from a source BS, a handover preparationrequest for a wireless device. For example, the handover preparationrequest may include measurement results of the first measurement fromthe wireless device, which is connected to the source BS.

A target BS may transmit, to the source BS, a handover preparationresponse for the wireless device.

A target BS may receive, from the wireless device, a handover completemessage including result of an evaluation of at least one of SecondaryCell (SCell) conditions for target SCells.

A target BS may apply a dual connectivity and/or a carrier aggregationwith at least one of the target SCells based on the received result ofthe evaluation, based on that the at least one of the target SCells isevaluated to be satisfied the at least one of the SCell conditions forthe target SCells.

Hereinafter, a target base station (BS) for managing SCells during aconditional PCell handover in a wireless communication system, will bedescribed. The detailed description overlapping with the above-describedcontents will be simplified or omitted.

A target BS may include a processor, a memory, and a transceiver. Forexample, the processor may be configured to be coupled operably with thememory and the transceiver.

The processor may be configured to control the transceiver to receive,from a source BS, a handover preparation request for a wireless device.

The processor may be configured to control the transceiver to transmit,to the source BS, a handover preparation response for the wirelessdevice.

The processor may be configured to control the transceiver to receive,from the wireless device, a handover complete message including resultof an evaluation of at least one of Secondary Cell (SCell) conditionsfor target SCells.

The processor may be configured to apply a dual connectivity and/or acarrier aggregation with at least one of the target SCells based on thereceived result of the evaluation, based on that the at least one of thetarget SCells is evaluated to be satisfied the at least one of the SCellconditions for the target SCells.

The present disclosure can have various advantageous effects.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure, a wirelessdevice could manage SCell configuration in a conditional handoverprocedure, efficiently.

For example, a wireless device may report, to the target BS, validSCells for CA and/or DC operation.

For example, CA and/or DC operation could be started with reportedSCells as soon as the target BS receives the handover complete message.

For example, a wireless device may use the SCell configuration includedin a conditional handover command, when a condition for the conditionalhandover is met.

For example, a wireless device may start to establish a SCell additionfor CA and/or DC without receiving additional SCell configurations.

Advantageous effects which can be obtained through specific embodimentsof the present disclosure are not limited to the advantageous effectslisted above. For example, there may be a variety of technical effectsthat a person having ordinary skill in the related art can understandand/or derive from the present disclosure. Accordingly, the specificeffects of the present disclosure are not limited to those explicitlydescribed herein, but may include various effects that may be understoodor derived from the technical features of the present disclosure.

Claims in the present disclosure can be combined in a various way. Forinstance, technical features in method claims of the present disclosurecan be combined to be implemented or performed in an apparatus, andtechnical features in apparatus claims can be combined to be implementedor performed in a method. Further, technical features in method claim(s)and apparatus claim(s) can be combined to be implemented or performed inan apparatus. Further, technical features in method claim(s) andapparatus claim(s) can be combined to be implemented or performed in amethod. Other implementations are within the scope of the followingclaims.

1. A method performed by a wireless device in a wireless communicationsystem, the method comprising, establishing a connection with a sourcePrimary Cell (PCell); receiving, from the source PCell, a handovercommand including a PCell condition for a target PCell, wherein thehandover command includes at least one of Secondary Cell (SCell)conditions for target SCells; evaluating the SCell conditions for thetarget SCells upon determining that the PCell condition for the targetPCell is met; and transmitting, to the target PCell, a handover completemessage including result of the evaluation of the SCell conditions forthe target SCells.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the method furthercomprises, applying a connection with at least one of the target SCells,based on that the at least one of the target SCells is evaluated to besatisfied the at least one of the SCell conditions for the targetSCells.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises,establishing a connection with source SCells before receiving thehandover command, wherein the handover command includes at least one ofSCell conditions for the source SCells.
 4. The method of claim 3,wherein method further comprises, keeping a connection with at least oneof the source SCells, based on that the at least one of the sourceSCells is evaluated to be satisfied the at least one of the SCellconditions for the source SCells.
 5. The method of claim 3, whereinmethod further comprises, releasing a connection with at least one ofthe source SCells, based on that the at least one of the source SCellsis evaluated not to be satisfied the at least one of the SCellconditions for the source SCells.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein thehandover complete message includes information on at least one of thetarget SCells, based on that the at least one of the target SCells isevaluated to be satisfied the at least one of the SCell conditions forthe target SCells.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the handovercomplete message includes information informing that none of the targetSCells satisfies the at least one of the SCell conditions for the targetSCells.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the handover command includesat least one of PCell conditions for multiple target PCells and at leastone of SCell conditions for multiple sets of target SCells, and whereineach of the multiple sets of the target SCells is associated with eachof the multiple target PCells.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein theevaluating the SCell conditions for the target SCells further comprises,evaluating the at least one of the SCell conditions only for a specificset of the target SCells, upon determining that the at least one of thePCell conditions for a specific PCell is met, wherein the specific setof the target SCells is associated with the specific target PCell. 10.The method of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises, performinghandover to the target PCell based on that the PCell condition is met;and establishing a carrier aggregation and/or a dual connectivity forthe PCell with at least one of the target SCells, based on that the atleast one of the target SCells is evaluated to be satisfied the at leastone of the SCell conditions for the target SCells.
 11. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the wireless device is in communication with at leastone of a user equipment, a network, or an autonomous vehicle other thanthe wireless device.
 12. A wireless device in a wireless communicationsystem comprising: a transceiver; a memory; and at least one processoroperatively coupled to the transceiver and the memory, and configuredto: establish a connection with a source Primary Cell (PCell); controlthe transceiver to receive, from the source PCell, a handover commandincluding a PCell condition for a target PCell, wherein the handovercommand includes at least one of Secondary Cell (SCell) conditions fortarget SCells; evaluate the SCell conditions for the target SCells upondetermining that the PCell condition for the target PCell is met; andcontrol the transceiver to transmit, to the target PCell, a handovercomplete message including result of the evaluation of the SCellconditions for the target SCells.
 13. The wireless device of claim 12,wherein the at least one processor is further configured to, apply aconnection with at least one of the target SCells, based on that the atleast one of the target SCells is evaluated to be satisfied the at leastone of the SCell conditions for the target SCells.
 14. The wirelessdevice of claim 12, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to, establish a connection with source SCells beforereceiving the handover command, wherein the handover command includes atleast one of SCell conditions for the source SCells.
 15. The wirelessdevice of claim 14, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to, keep a connection with at least one of the source SCells,based on that the at least one of the source SCells is evaluated to besatisfied the at least one of the SCell conditions for the sourceSCells.
 16. The wireless device of claim 14, wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured to, release a connection with at leastone of the source SCells, based on that the at least one of the sourceSCells is evaluated not to be satisfied the at least one of the SCellconditions for the source SCells.
 17. The wireless device of claim 12,wherein the handover complete message includes information on at leastone of the target SCells, based on that the at least one of the targetSCells is evaluated to be satisfied the at least one of the SCellconditions for the target SCells.
 18. The wireless device of claim 12,wherein the handover complete message includes information informingthat none of the target SCells satisfies the at least one of the SCellconditions for the target SCells.
 19. The method of claim 1, wherein thehandover command includes at least one of PCell conditions for multipletarget PCells and at least one of SCell conditions for multiple sets ofthe target SCells, and wherein each set of the multiple sets of thetarget SCells is associated with each of the multiple target PCells.20-22. (canceled)
 23. A non-transitory computer-readable medium havingstored thereon a plurality of instructions, which, when executed by aprocessor of a wireless device, cause the wireless device to: stablish aconnection with a source Primary Cell (PCell); receive, from the sourcePCell, a handover command including a PCell condition for a targetPCell, wherein the handover command includes at least one of SecondaryCell (SCell) conditions for target SCells; evaluate the SCell conditionsfor the target SCells upon determining that the PCell condition for thetarget PCell is met; and transmit, to the target PCell, a handovercomplete message including result of the evaluation of the SCellconditions for the target SCells. 24-25. (canceled)